A Review: Healthy Boating & Sailing by Dr Michael Martin Cohen

Dr Michael Martin Cohen’s Healthy Boating & Sailing takes an approach to sailor health that is both unusual and genuinely useful. Instead of treating the body as an afterthought — something we only worry about when something goes wrong — Dr Cohen argues that sailors should understand their own physiology in the same way they understand the systems on their boat. It’s a simple idea, but once you see it, it’s hard to unsee.

pic of Healthy Boating and Sailing by Dr Michael Cohen

Dr Cohen’s central point is that every sailor wears two hats: one as a mariner, and one as a systems engineer. We already think this way about our boats — structural integrity, electrical circuits, navigation systems, propulsion, HVAC, and so on. We know how these systems work, how they fail, and how to prevent those failures. Yet we rarely apply the same thinking to our own bodies, even though the human body has its own structural, electrical, navigational and thermal systems that are just as vulnerable to stress on the water.

This “human systems” perspective is the strength of the book. Seasickness, for example, isn’t treated as a random nuisance but as a genuine systems failure — a conflict between the visual, proprioceptive and vestibular information streams. Likewise, Dr Cohen’s discussion of hydration, heat, cold, hypertension, sleep, and even constipation is framed in terms of how the body’s systems respond to the marine environment. It’s practical, preventative knowledge rather than first‑aid instruction, and it’s presented in a way that makes immediate sense to anyone who already thinks in terms of boat systems.

Dr Cohen also highlights the brain’s intrinsic navigational system — something most sailors never consider, yet rely on more often than they realise when electronic aids fall short. His explanation of how this system works, and how fatigue or stress can impair it, is particularly relevant for shorthanded crews and long‑distance cruisers.

What I appreciate most is the book’s calm, matter‑of‑fact tone. Dr Cohen isn’t trying to alarm anyone; he’s simply pointing out that sailors will perform better, make better decisions, and stay safer if they understand how their own systems behave under load. It’s the same logic we apply to diesel engines, rigging, electrics and hull structure: you don’t need to be a doctor, but you do need to understand how things work and how they fail.

Healthy Boating & Sailing

Dr Michael Cohen M.D., a keen sailor and neurologist, is the author of 'Healthy Boating & Sailing' — one of those special books that deserve a place on every sailor's bookshelf...

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Healthy Boating & Sailing is best thought of as preventive maintenance for the sailor — long overdue for most of us. It’s a thoughtful, practical guide that encourages sailors to look after the most important system on board: themselves.

Dick McClary (sailboat-cruising.com)

Dick McClary is an RYA Yachtmaster, yachting journalist, and author of the RYA publication Offshore Sailing. He runs sailboat‑cruising.com and the Liveaboard Sailboats for Sale community, helping thousands of sailors make informed choices for offshore cruising.